nissan

TOKYO--The earthquake that hammered Japan on Friday stopped production at several assembly plants that export vehicles to the United States.

The shutdowns could affect exports of such cars as the Toyota Yaris and Scion xB and Scion xD, as well as the Honda Fit, Accord sedan, and CR-V crossover. The quake also disrupted production of Acura and Infiniti models.

Japan's strongest quake in at least a century struck off the coast of Sendai, 80 miles north of Tokyo.

Toyota evacuated workers from several factories in the quake zone. Toyota has two parts plants in northern Japan and has two … Read more

By rebranding the Dodge Grand Caravan as the Ram cargo van, or Ram C/V, Chrysler has paved the way to expand in the commercial van segment.

The U.S. automaker has more than 25 years of minivan engineering and promises the Ram C/V will meet the needs for small and large businesses.

The Ram C/V is a Class 1 commercial vehicle that offers a 1,800-lb. cargo payload and up to 3,600 lbs. in towing capability. It also features 16-inch steel wheels, a 160-amp alternator, 20-gallon fuel tank, and it runs on a 3.6-liter Pentastar … Read more

Nissan has a new crossover at the entry level, a bug-eyed-lookin' thing called the Juke. It does some interesting things on the dash and under the hood. Brian Cooley takes you for a drive to check the tech.

(Full CNET review of the Juke).

The all-new Nissan Juke offers some extraordinary features for a car in its price range, and extraordinary looks. There is no getting around its over-styled exterior, especially as it sits up high, as if begging for attention. We on the CNET staff had strong disagreements over whether the Juke was funky-cool or just ugly.

Behind the wheel, the car certainly makes some fun. A turbocharged direct-injection engine is as modern as it gets. And Nissan takes advantage of flexible engine and steering programming to let the driver choose between Sport, Normal, and Eco drive modes. Typically for Nissan, the best … Read more

The Geneva auto show is filled with signs that the industry turnaround under way in North America has reached Europe.

Automakers are bouncing back from the downturn of the past two years with a number of production vehicles and concepts in Geneva.

Volkswagen Group, helped by its new subsidiary Italdesign Giugiaro, will unveil an array of concept cars to show the industry it has the design depth, as well as the production capability and the financial strength, to topple Toyota as the world's No. 1 automaker.

BMW will debut the Vision ConnectedDrive, a futuristic roadster concept that shows how … Read more

Sexy models draped over new cars is more county fair than serious auto show, but Nissan has paired up with Sports Illustrated for the ultimate in pandering, pitting the new Juke against swimsuit models in a series of "tests."

In four videos, the Juke competes against different swimsuit models in the areas of acceleration, aerodynamics, slalom (agility), and curb appeal. These videos are part of Nissan's "Model vs. Model" campaign.

But there is more to the campaign than a few amusing videos. Visitors to the Sports Illustrated Model Search site, which goes live the evening … Read more

Nissan released a preview today of the Esflow, an all-electric sports car concept bound for the 2011 Geneva Motor Show.

Via its European Web site, the automaker gave EV sports car enthusiasts a taste of what could eventually be a production vehicle.

The two-seater Esflow is unmistakably aimed to compete as a sports car with an ultra-low-profile aluminum chassis, a wraparound windshield, and roll bars incorporated behind each seat.

It's a rear-wheel drive car that contains two electric motors, each one mounted over the rear wheel it powers above the rear axis, according to Nissan.

The car was designed … Read more

Customers registered to buy a Nissan Leaf electric car will take delivery before summer is over, the carmaker said yesterday.

Nissan delivered fewer than 20 Leaf cars in the first month of sales in December and another 89 in January. The company has had to assuage customers who thought they would be riding in an electric car by now.

Nissan's U.S. sales chief Brian Carolin said yesterday that increased production in Japan will clear the bottleneck.

"We're now in the process of ramping up. Production is going to be peaking up in March and April, so … Read more

No range anxiety here. Bill Markevitch just took delivery of the 2011 Nissan Leaf in Hawaii. A development executive for Hawaii Pacific Health in Honolulu, Markevitch plans to use photovoltaic panels installed on his home to have the sun power his car.

The Leaf has already launched in California, Arizona, Oregon, Washington, Tennessee, and Texas.

"We are excited about Nissan bringing the first Nissan Leaf electric vehicle to Hawaii," said Estrella Seese, acting energy program administrator of the State of Hawaii Energy Office. "The introduction of the Nissan Leaf will support our state's effort to move … Read more